The Rather Complex Life of a Blood Traitor
by The Pineapple Force
Summary: The life of a certain Black who marries a certain Mudblood that eventually gets her kicked out of the family is remarkably confusing. But what was her whole story? Here's what happened during Andromeda's complicated adolescence!


**Hello, readers! Let me just say to those of you who continue to read my stuff despite my lack of updates: YOU ALL ARE TOTALLY AWESOME. Not that everyone else isn't! Anyway, new story time! Since summer's here, I'll definitely update often except for a few weeks when I'll be in France (*SQUEAL*). I have a pretty awesome plot for this story. I hope you enjoy it!**

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"_Cissy! Scoot. Over!"_

"Watch your tongue, Bellatrix."

"Oh, what are _you_ going to do? Tell Mother?"

I just loved train rides. Heavy on the sarcasm.

Every year, I sat in a compartment with my sisters and listened to them complain—though most of the complaining came from my _dearest_ older sister, Bellatrix. Narcissa wasn't as bad, though she made sure to keep their arguments going for the whole train ride. I was forced to sit through their terrible disagreements and petty fights year after year… It was rather cruel.

Then again, it _was_, after all, my mother who forced us to sit together—she put some spell on us every year that kept us sitting together in the same compartment on the way to Hogwarts. She wanted us to grow off of each other's greatness or something like that. I didn't know; I just went along with it to keep her from punishing me.

Suddenly, I saw the tip of Hogwarts come into view from the window. _Hallelujah!_ I thought to myself.

Narcissa and Bellatrix began to pull out their wands—something that I knew wouldn't end well. "Alright, alright, you two, now stop it! We need to change into our robes," I shouted at them.

"Oh, Andromeda, you're so… _timely,_" Bellatrix snapped at me, but nonetheless dropped her wand.

By the time the three of us had changed into our robes, the train had pulled into the Hogsmeade station. All I wanted was to get away from my sisters; I'd had enough of them over the summer holiday. Being back at school with my classmates was much better than being at home with my family.

The three of us pulled our trunks out and left the compartment. I heard Bellatrix say as we got off, "Finally, I'm _done_ with _that._" She was in her seventh year, so she wouldn't have to be on anymore back-to-school rides with her loser sisters. Yippee for her.

"Hey, Andromeda! Want to share a carriage?" I heard a familiar voice call.

My best friend's name was Cecilinda Bode. I called her "Lindy" because it was much easier for me to say that than "Cecilinda" when I was eleven, and it just stuck with her ever since.

"Bye, Cissy. Bye, Bellatrix." And then I left the two of them for Lindy.

Lindy started walking towards an empty carriage, not waiting for me to follow, of course. I continued behind her, watching her long—and quite straight—blonde hair swishing rhythmically on her back. Once we were both in, we shut the doors; we didn't really want a bunch of people in our carriage. I _never_ took on a big lot of people right after leaving my sisters for fear that I would snap at whoever those poor souls were.

I felt the carriage begin to move beneath my feet.

"So how was _your_ summer, Andromeda?" Lindy asked me with a slight smirk on her face.

In response, I simply took a fistful of my robes, shoved them in my mouth, and screamed as loud as I could. Lindy just laughed at me. "Oh, shove off," I told her once my screaming had stopped. "You _know_ how my family's just one big pain in the arse."

"Oh, believe me, _I know_," Lindy stated simply. She had been around my family. They didn't like her too much, even though she was in Slytherin. "Anyway, are you looking forward to our first N.E.W.T. year?"

I had almost forgotten about that; we were sixth years, so we would begin shaping our knowledge to fit whatever career path we chose. "Yeah," I answered. "I am, actually. I mean, we'll get a _lot_ more one-on-one training, I'd expect, since the classes are going to be smaller…"

We talked like that for the rest of the ride. It was much better than sitting in a carriage with my sisters and _their_ friends, believe me.

The feast in the Great Hall was always the best part about getting back to school. My mother's cooking wasn't exactly the, er, best. But the way the kitchen elves made this food… _Merlin._ It was just _so good!_ I mean there was literally every good thing there could be to eat sitting on the table, which was good considering how hungry I was.

"For goodness sake, Andromeda, stop embarrassing us; you're eating like a wild pig!" Good old Bellatrix. How I loved her so…

For the record, I ate very neatly compared to some of the other students. It wasn't like I was dripping with sauce all over me like one of the fourth year Slytherin boys. Disgusting. I didn't understand how some people could live such sloppy lives.

About halfway through dessert, a finger tapped my shoulder. "Boo," said a voice.

I turned, and I felt a smile creep onto my face. "Hello, Violet!"

My friend bent over to give me and Lindy hugs. "I couldn't find you two by the carriages, so I figured I'd come over here at some point. And here I am!"

Lindy spoke, "Well, _I'm_ going to finish my dessert. I'll compare classes with you tomorrow, okay?"

Violet tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear—it was as black as Bellatrix's, though it was as straight as Bella's was curly. "Alright. I probably should go back soon, anyway," Violet stated, while glancing at some of the other Slytherins… Let's just say that they weren't giving her the _best_ of looks. She was a Ravenclaw, and even _they_ weren't always welcome at the Slytherin table. "Just thought I'd say hi. I'll see you both tomorrow?" And then Violet made her way back to the Ravenclaw table with several sets of glaring eyes on her back.

Once dessert was over, Lindy asked, "You ready to go?" Everyone else in our House was leaving for the dormitories already.

"Oh, um, yeah. Let's go!" As we exited the Hall towards the dungeons, I noticed a particularly sloppy Hufflepuff making his way down to the kitchens. He dropped something behind him—a quill. Since I was headed in the same direction as him—downstairs—I decided to be nice and pick it up. "Hey!" I shouted. He didn't turn around. "Hey, you! Hufflepuff kid!" Five different kids' heads turned, but not his. I decided to try the direct approach. I ran to him and tapped his shoulder. "You dropped this."

He turned to face me, and as he saw the quill, his startlingly blue eyes widened. "Thank you _so_ much!" he exclaimed rather happily.

"It's just a quill." I handed it to him. "And you're welcome." Before he could say anything else, I caught up with Lindy and proceeded to the Slytherin commonroom.

Our commonroom had never been too exciting. Every year we got there, the Prefects said, "These are the boys' dorms; these are the girls'," and then pretty much everybody would go to bed. That was exactly what had happened on this night, too, unsurprisingly.

Once Lindy, the rest of the sixth year Slytherins, and I all got upstairs, we crashed on our bunks and went right to sleep. I had a feeling that the next day would be pretty chaotic.

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The next morning, I woke up feeling groggy and inexplicably tired. Nonetheless, I _did_ get out of bed and organize my things for the day. Everything had a place in my bag, and my Slytherin robes were nice and tidy. Perfection.

"Lindy, do you want me to wait for you?" I asked her as she looked for various things that she needed for the day.

"No, no, you go on Andromeda! I'll meet you in the Great Hall."

"Suit yourself!" And with that, I began the walk to the Great Hall, alone.

That is, until Bellatrix found me.

"You've got no right going around and _helping Hufflepuffs_. Let along _mudblood_ Hufflepuffs!"

Delightful. "And _you've_ got no right going around and telling me what to do. So why don't you just move along and leave me alone, _dearie?_" I tried to do my best impersonation of my sister at the end of the sentence.

Bellatrix screeched at me and then went away. Thank goodness.

I had just about made it to the Great Hall when a voice was resounding throughout the corridor. "Hey! Hey, _Slytherin kid_!"

I turned, and there he was: the same sloppy Hufflepuff who had dropped his quill yesterday. "Yes?" I questioned him, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Boy, I wish I could do that," he said and then tried to raise an eyebrow. "Am I doing it? Am I?"

I just stared at him.

"Right, sorry. I just wanted to thank you for picking up my quill yesterday!"

I sighed and turned on him. "And I told you it's just a quill. No need to thank me."

"Wait, wait!" He grabbed my shoulder.

"_Andromeda! Andromeda, come back here!" A cold hand pressed into the little girl's shoulder, nails digging into her soft skin. The girl screamed._

_ "Stop it! Stop it!" she yelled. "Just stop it, Bella! STOP! AAAHH!"_

_ "You're so weak. How am I related to someone so pathetic?" The nails pressed further. Blood began to poor in five different spots on the girl's shoulder._

I pushed the Hufflepuff boy's arm away from my shoulder. "_Go. Away._" What was that? Was that my voice? The boy looked extremely alarmed. "Wait. I'm… Sorry. I don't know what just happened."

He just kept staring at me.

"Look, I'm sorry! It's just my sisters; sometimes they get to me, and lately I… Nevermind." I started to walk away again.

"Umm… Wait!" the boy called. He blocked my path into the Great Hall and held out a hand. "I'm Ted Tonks. Sixth year Hufflepuff."

I took his hand. "Andromeda Black. Sixth year Slytherin."

"Want to come sit with me?"

Did he really… What on earth? "Sorry, I've got to meet up with a friend. But I'll probably see you around in class?" I smiled at him, and finally walked to my table, where—somehow—Lindy was already sitting.

She had noticed my encounter with Ted; I could tell by the amused expression that was on her face. "What was _that_ about?" she asked as she picked up some pumpkin juice.

"I picked up his quill yesterday and he wanted to thank me for it." _Also, he touched my shoulder, and I completely snapped at him. As in, the-Black-family-is-about-to-kill-you sort of "snap."_ Yeah. As if I could have told her that.

The rest of breakfast went as planned, but afterwards, we had to go get our N.E.W.T. schedules. All of the sixth year Slytherins waited in line to see Professor Slughorn—our Head of House—to receive their schedules.

"Hello, Ms. Black! _So_, let's see what we have here… Exceeds Expectations in just about _everything_… Except History of Magic." He then leaned in closer to me and whispered, "But who _really_ uses _that_ class?" He then winked. "Now don't go running off and telling Professor Binns that I've said that! Anyway… What are your ambitions, Ms. Black?"

To be honest, I hadn't really had too many "life-fulfilling" plans at that point in my life. Basically, I had decided in my fourth year that I would become a Healer for no better reason than to have something to do. I didn't have any other ideas, and being a Healer wouldn't be too bad. "I'd like to be a Healer, Professor," I told Slughorn.

"Well, you certainly have all the credentials! You'll need to receive no less than an Exceeds Expectations in N.E.W.T. Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology. Do you think you can do all that?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, I'll put those on your schedule… Would you like to have any other classes? You know, just for fun?" When he said all that, he gave me a cheesy Slughorn smile.

I laughed. "No, sir. I'd rather just focus on my necessary studies."

"Okey dokey, then!" He tapped his wand to my schedule card. "Here's your schedule, Ms. Black!"

As I walked away, I examined my schedule card. I had Defense Against the Dark Arts first today. Lovely.

"Hey, give me your card!" I heard Lindy shout as she ran toward me from the Hall. We exchanged cards. She unfortunately didn't have Defense this morning. However, we had afternoon Potions together, which was good. "Oh, well. I'll see you at lunch?"

And with that, we went our separate ways.

I went on ahead to the Defense room even though I knew class wouldn't start for another fifteen minutes. This enabled me to find a perfect seat in the middle of the room—not too close to the front, but not so far away that you wouldn't catch anything that the teacher said.

"Hey, Andromeda!"

I shifted in my seat so that I could see the newcomer in the once-empty room. It was sloppy—and as he walked in, I noticed, fair-haired—Ted.

"Oh… Hi, Ted," I said before turning around. I wasn't much of a talker.

There was no way of getting rid of him, though, for he came right to the desk I was at and started putting his things down. "Boy, I think Defense is just one of the best classes, don't you?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"I mean, it'll be really good to know for the real world. You never know what'll be out there! And if you're like me—I want to work for the Ministry—then you _really_ will need to know this type of stuff! I mean, not only will they be looking for your grades or whatever when you apply, but some people _really_ hate the Ministry, you know? I mean, what if somebody attacked me in public? Well, I could just whip out my wand and say, 'Sorry, sir; not today!' and then-" Right here, he stood up. "—BAM!" He flung out his wand at an invisible person at the front of the room. "He's just been jelly-legs-ified." He looked at me with a giant grin on his face.

I just stared at him. I also realized I was gaping and closed my mouth.

Ted sat back down and said with a sheepish grin, "Sorry."

I laughed once, and started pulling out the things I would need for class.

"You don't say much, Andromeda."

"No. No, I don't."

He ran a hand through his fair hair. "Well, I think I'd like to hear more from you. As much as I love talking, I love listening even more."

"I'm not really much of a talker," I said as I wrote that day's date at the top of a piece of parchment.

He snatched my parchment up in a heartbeat. "Tell me something! Anything!"

"Fine." I sighed before saying, "I really think you need to learn how to tuck in your shirt. Or at the very least tie a tie properly." Then, my cleaning instincts took over and I began to fix his tie.

Ted chuckled. "Alright… So, I take it you're very clean and organized?"

I nodded and took back my parchment.

"What else?" he asked, persistent.

"I don't know! Maybe you should be more specific about your questions. Not so general, you know?" I raised my eyebrows at him with pursed lips.

"Okay… Favorite color?"

"Dark green."

"Favorite number?"

"One."

"Last time you ate ice cream?"

"Three years ago, maybe?"

"_Three years? What?_ I _must_ take you to get some ice cream sometime soon!" he exclaimed, completely shocked at my lack of frozen milk and vanilla. He shook his head, as if to clear his mind of what he had just heard. "Anyway… Chocolate or vanilla?"

"Chocolate."

A new voice called out in the Defense room:

"I would eat chocolate in piles.

To have it, I'd give up my child!

Don't take it from me, for it's a terror to see!

I'd attack you; you'd think me quite wild."

Ted jumped up from the—and apparently _his_—seat beside me and yelled, "GEORGIE!" Then, he ran to the new girl who had just poetically entered the room, scooping her up like she weighed nothing. Though she was so short and thin that she probably didn't weigh much.

Georgina Fisher. Sixth year Gryffindor. I knew her… Sort of. I saw her a lot, since Gryffindors and Slytherins had previously had many classes together.

"Ted Tonks, you put me down right now!" Georgina yelled. She started messing with Ted's hair, probably in the hopes that he would put her on the ground. He did, though he mussed up Georgina's curly brown hair, probably to get back at her.

"Georgie, _this_—" he walked over to me, "—is Andromeda Black."

She danced her way to where Ted and I stood. "We've met. Just because Hufflepuffs didn't have classes with Slytherins doesn't mean that Gryffindors didn't! Goodness, Ted. You should know this by now! Pfft." With that last noise, she made her bangs poof up.

"Thanks for waiting for us, _Georgie_!" Another Gryffindor that I knew—Bonnie Burns—ran into the room, attacking Georgina.

"Sorry! I was trying to find Ted! Now get off!" Georgina pushed Bonnie off of her.

A third Gryffindor girl, who I knew to be Enid Longbottom, entered the room, slapped Georgina's arm, and said, "Doesn't matter who you were looking for. You still ditched us! Some friend you are!"

They all had so much energy.

And it wasn't _angry_ energy.

It was very refreshing.

While those three kept arguing, Ted switched his attention back to me. "So, Andromeda, do you know many Gryffindors?"

I shook my head. "My friends are in Slytherin and Ravenclaw." I didn't mention to him that I only had one friend in each of those Houses.

"Well, that's too bad! It's a really lovely House; everyone's friendly. Well, most of them are. Every now and then you see a bad one. For instance, I knew this one guy who—"

Ted was cut off by the arrival of more students; class must have been starting soon.

He continued, "I guess I'd better officially claim this seat so that no one else gets it, eh, partner?" Ted gave me another one of his grins before getting out what he would need for class.

One word was ringing in my ears:

Partner.

A Hufflepuff, being my partner.

And I couldn't help but think: what were the other Slytherins going to think?

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**Okay, normally, I'm COMPLETELY canon. Usually, I can't stand it when writers don't stick to canon. But there is one tiny little flaw in mine… Bellatrix is only one year older than Andromeda instead of two. GAH! I'M SORRY! DON'T HATE ME! But I had already started writing by the time I had figured it out, and it would mess up the plot otherwise. Anyway, I hope you can forgive me!**

**I still love reviews. :) Do you guys still take virtual hugs?**

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